In the operation of pipelines through which fluids such as crude oil, refined products, natural gas and the like flow under pressure of pumping systems, it is highly desirable to be able to portray on real-time basis any loss of product that might occur through a rupture in the pipeline or through some other cause.
Heretofore there have been many attempts to detect such events in order to direct efforts to locate and repair pipeline leaks.
Heretofore attempts have been made to determine loss, utilizing pressure and flow velocity measured at two points along a pipeline. Such attempts are described in the following publications:
"Network System Transient Calculations by Implicit Method", M. A. Stoner, Journal of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, December 1971, pp. 352-365; and
"Some Applications of Transient Flow Simulation", V. L. Streeter and E. B. Wylie, Journal of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, December 1978, pp. 357-364.